Swotah Travel and Adventure

This May, 2019, I experienced life changing experience while trekking to EBC with my new little Nepali family SWOTAH TRAVEL team. With this post I'd like to advise this agency for few reasons:
Incredibly friendly and helpful. My guide Mike, and Sherpa Lopsang couldn't be more helpful. Mike is a very charismatic young (30ish) nepali guy, who knows a lot about mountaineering. He gave me a lot of insights about the trek, Nepali culture, we talked about climbing Everest and other 8 thousandeners. These conversations are really helpful while trakking (well, he was talking, while I was struggling on my way up), because they help you to think of smth else rather then how difficult it is to climb.
Another reason why I suggest to deal with these guys is because I felt super safe and taken care of. The road very ofterln is pretty steep and you might need a friendly hand))) Mike was super cousious about assent. He adviced how to use diamox and what food is better for altitude (garlic soup) . It's super important to have someone who knows what to do and who will act simultaneously if some unpredictable situation happen. That's why I don't advice to travel solo without guide. Mike helped one solo traveler who accured altitude sickness in Gorak Shep. And with his help she was evacuated by helicopter. Another great person that deserves appreciation is my Porter Lopsang, who helped my knees to come back home in one piece. Carrying 15kg bag is not a great idea when your knees aren't 100% in shape. Even though they are before the climb you might reconsider and will want a strong guy to help you , after you try going up on the rocks for hours. Trekking is super fun , enjoyable and life changing when you see the beauty of Himalaya especially when it's done wisely. Good luck and have fun.

This was my second trip to Nepal, some of my interactions with tour guides (from another company) on my first trip to Nepal exposed me to the exploitation of tourists.

This is definitely not the case with Swotah, Ajay and his team are as genuine as they come and go completely out of their way to make sure we had the best experience.

Ajay is a well travelled and intelligent person making for a great host while in KTM.

The Base camp team are highly experienced and were there to collect us the second we hit the ground at Lukla Airport, leading us to base camp without any problems whatsoever, our EBC guide Nischal and porters Passang Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa were great leaders and companions.

I have no doubt I will be completing another trip with Swotah in the near future.
Highly recommended!

Thank you dear Ajay for organizing a wonderful and memorable five day trip through really local and remote villages. We enjoyed the great hospitality from the peoples and the beautiful landscape and to learn a lot about Nepali Lifestyle and culture. Yes, sometimes it was hard to walk due to the heat but in the end it was really worthy. Lots auf thanks for your great and lovely stuff Temba, Tek, Raj Kumar and Surya! I can really recommend the agency and team and will definitely come to visit you again! Lots of greetings from Berlin, Janina

It was my first time to Nepal, first time trekking, and a friend of mine recommended SWOTAH to me as she already went with them before so I did EBC trekking with them. From the minute they picked me up from the airport, I knew everything is gonna be alright. Guys were so cheerful and paid a lot attention to my needs. I felt like traveling with friends, we talked a lot, shared a lot, with the great view of Himalayas and delicious meals. This has been one of my best trip and not the last. Go with them and you won't regret!

Climbing Mera Peak was an awesome experience. Firstly, all guys in this company are passionate about what they do. I felt it from the first email as they were fast responding and paid attention to every detail starting from visa and ending by how many socks I need to have with me. When we met I just confirmed it once again to myself how awesome team is and this feeling was always with me during the experience. We bought all needed gear in KTM for reasonable prices, had nice chill out day before the start and great dinners to get familiar.
Fun, cheerful and full of energy guide Chandra, our porters and climbing sherpas been one of the best and I could totally rely on them during the summit day. Mera peak is one of a life time experience with fascinating views, moderate challenges and unforgettable memories. I highly recommend SWOTAH for any adventures you wanna have in Nepal as they are wonderful people. See you next year, guys!

For all nature and culture fans a must have! The best guides i ever had. Wellcoming atmosphare, always a helping hand and anxious, taking care of all of us.
Locals a very friendly, open minded and made their homestay to an unforgotable experience. Food was very tasti and you need to try "Roxy".. You will see/feel how locals are living. May it take a bit to handle it but after a day i was complity in to it and enjoyed staying with them.
I definitly recommend it and will be back Next year. Thanks to the wonderful Teammembers, i had a great time with you!!!

I recently undertook the Everest Base Camp trek with SWOTAH Travel and Adventure over April/May 2019. Ajay and SWOTAH came highly recommended from a friend who had undertaken a previous trek with them, and given the stories we had heard about unscrupulous tour operators, our group of four was more than happy to book with SWOTAH.

From the start, Ajay was friendly, helpful and went over and above to make sure that we had all the information we needed prior to departing Australia, including appropriate travel insurance, and important equipment that we needed to bring (but also what items we could pick up cheaply in Kathmandu). He was contactable via email, WhatsApp, Messenger, and never took too long to reply. We felt like we knew him before we even arrived in Kathmandu!

As others have mentioned, Ajay goes out of his way to provide a personalised yet professional service, and this included picking us up from KTM at the start and dropping us off on the end. Our itinerary included a full day in Kathmandu before the trek, and Away kindly drove us around to various attractions and cultural sites to really enhance our Nepal experience. We also needed to buy some additional hiking gear (day packs, walking poles, crampons, gaiters etc), Ajay took us to the Thamel shopping district and went store to store in search of the highest quality gear, ensuring we paid the lowest possible prices.

He also kindly organised Nepalese SIM cards for us which were great, and were useful for a large part of our hike.

On day one of the Everest Base Camp hike, Ajay ensured that our connections were smooth, personally escorting us to the airport for our flight to Lukla. We were given all the information we needed to link up with our guide and porters in Lukla, and this went off without a hitch. SWOTAH only employs trusted guides and porters, and to say that ours were excellent were an understatement. They really did take care of us on the mountain, and made sure we had everything we needed all the time. As an example, one member of our group suffered an unfortunate (but self-inflicted) eye injury, and our tour guide did not hesitate to escort him on a three-hour detour to the American clinic in Pangboche to ensure he received the best possible care.

Our daily hikes were fair, and we were given ample rest breaks. At no time did we ever feel like we were being rushed, and the guide and porters were constantly checking in with us to monitor us for any symptoms of altitude sickness. We were given an acclimatisation day in Namche, and offered another one in Dingboche which we ultimately declined due to all members feeling great. Another positive part of our tour is that we appeared to start walking earlier than other groups, usually fed and commenced hiking by 7am each day. This means we would reach our destination by 1pm or 2pm at the latest, and have an entire afternoon to acclimatise to our new altitude. Ajay remained in contact with us for the duration of our trek, just to make sure that everyone was safe and happy.

Upon returning to Kathmandu at the end of the trip Ajay was again more than happy to help us with cultural experiences, dinners and even joined us for a few celebratory drinks in Thamel!

I will certainly be returning to Nepal, and I have no doubt at all that i'll be using SWOTAH Travel and Adventure to help me plan my trip.

Priceless experience, that not only showed us the real authentic Nepal away from the tourist spots, furthermore every single day, the people we met on the way and the impressions we gained of this exceptional country by living amongst and together with the locals, inspired us to become the best version of ourselves, in the most beautiful way. Can’t thank you guys enough! Best Team!

The five day tour to experience rural Nepal went beyond my expectations. The families in the villages were so friendly, the food was delicious and the trek itself has breathtaking views.
Ajay and his team Temba, Tek, Raj Kumar and Surya were amazing, always around when we needed them and I loved how much they shared about Nepal.
I would definitely book my next tour with them.

Fast and responsible company
These guys really fast organized for us a half day trip to Bhaktapur at last moment. They found us a van with a driver in 30 mins or even less. Very pleasant people, showed us around the city and took us to some special hidden streets where was not tourist area. So we could see real life of locals. It was a nice day, our guide was informative and could answer all our questions. Will definitely recommend this agency to my friends.